Page 84 of These Eternal Bones
“Were you alone?” she asks carefully, and my irritation spikes.
“Enough Péal. We werefriends. According to the diary, we were incredibly close.”
She nods. “You were, but…people change, mistress. The grief, it…he blamed himself. I believe it made him ugly on the inside.”
I dismiss her with a wave, but there’s something I’m missing from the fall, something that isn’t sitting right. I had done something before I fell, right? “I need answers. What if he’s my closest bet to stopping this?”
“Stopping…the curse?” The look of pity in her eyes slams into my chest in the most unpleasant way.
“He knows something more, I can tell. He spends all his time sneaking books in and out of the library. It’s not much, but it’ssomething,Péal. I need something, some hope, even if it’s a wisp.”
She takes a deep breath before her head snaps around toward the stairs, moments before the lock turns. She simply nods, offering me a smile. “You’ll just have to be patient, mistress; I can handle it.”
Elric blurs into the room, glaring down at the tiny woman. “Handle what?”
“The staining in her teal skirts; they are her favorite.”
He smiles at me, but the veins are edging onto his lips. He’s unsettled again, be it by something external or his own mind, I’m rarely sure. “I can buy you another. You’re dismissed, selkie.”
She remains peeking around my mate to get my approval. I nearly laugh, but my heart pounding in my chest keeps it at bay as I wave bye to her.
No sooner than the lower door locks, mine breezes open and shut in a flurry of speed. Elric regarding me with a predatory glint in his eyes. “Your pulse is racing.”
It’s not a question. I wipe my sweaty palms on my skirt, simply raising my brows in response.
He gathers me in his arms, depositing me on the bed. My body wants to let loose a sigh of relief, but I know better. I know this man better than I know myself, and I know I haven’t won. Not yet. He lowers his head to my neck, teasing me with his fangs before he kisses me there. My core heats, suddenly wishing to be free from my bodice so that his chest can drag around my peaked nipples. I moan as he dips lower, pricking the skin on the top of my breast with a sharpened canine. He watches the blood well there with no small amount of reverence. His eyes capture mine as he leans in to lap at it, dragging his cool tongue over and over until the bleeding stops, as if we’ve got all the time in the world. “The two of you were whispering, my love. What about?”
My body trembles, at war with my flushed skin and throbbing center and the lethal edge to his voice. “Perhaps it is nice to speak to another woman about womanly things without a man leering menacingly in the corner,” I snap, but it lacks any real venom.
He pulls back, and I refuse to shrink under his perusal.
It lasts an eternity, and I can’t tell if my chest is heaving from the lie or the arousal.
I nearly wilt when he pulls me from the bed. “Come my sweet Molly, let's seat you upon my cock.”
40
A Bronze Man
Molly
I didn’t have to wait long, but were those next two days some of the longest of my life? Absolutely.
Tien whistles from the bottom of the stairs, giving me a warning that he’s here, though judging by the growl that left Elric’s throat seconds ago, I knew someone was coming. I bring my cup of tea to my lips, blowing on the steaming China. He used his power to enter. Does that mean he doesn’t have the key?
“Sir Jin got out last night. We think the storm spooked him; he’s lost to the woods.”
I choke on the tea.
Elric tenses at my back. “Molly?”
Worry lances through the bond as I hack, sputtering out reassurancesbetween coughs.
Is thisit?
Schooling my features, I turn back to Elric. “He only responds to you, doesn’t he?”
His eyes flick to mine, and I can see the warring on his face. I certainly didn’t help matters by hacking half to death in his lap seconds ago. “And you.” He offers, trying to sound calm.
